Post by Sarcoidawareness on May 29, 2008 12:39:48 GMT -5
In the following reports you are going to learn about sarcoidosis, and autoimmune diseases in general. Including many things your doctor never told you probably because he didn't know them. You’ll learn what may be happening to your body when you have sarcoidosis. What the underlying causes of it may be. And what may need to be considered in attempting to deal with it. You will have a better understanding of sarcoidosis after reading these reports.
Sarcoidosis shares much in common with other autoimmune diseases. Research on any particular one usually, but not always, applies to the other autoimmune diseases. They have similar underlying causes and conditions, and consequently similar ways of dealing with them.
The main symptom that labels an autoimmune disease as sarcoidosis is a type of inflammation with granulomas. Most commonly they are found in the lungs, skin, lymph nodes, liver or spleen. Often they go away after a few years but even if they do that, they can come back later with a vengeance.
Some of the latest research has shown that it is bacteria in the granulomas that initiate and cause sarcoidosis. So this is definitely one autoimmune disease where antibiotics or supplements that kill bacteria or help the body to better kill bacteria can play a vital role.
These bacteria produce vitamin D. So people with sarcoidosis may suffer from vitamin D toxicity. Especially if they are out in the sun a lot, drink vitamin D fortified milk, or take supplements with vitamin D. This is completely different than an autoimmune disease like MS where there is usually not enough vitamin D. It may be advisable to test your vitamin D levels. If they are high drastically limit exposure to the sun and refrain from taking anything with added vitamin D. After several months elevated vitamin D levels would then start to level out.
You may experience Sarcoidosis in almost any part of your body, although it usually affects some organs more than others. It usually starts in one of two places:
• Lungs
• Lymph nodes, especially the lymph nodes in your chest cavity.
Sarcoidosis also often affects your:
• Skin
• Eyes
• Liver.
Less often, sarcoidosis affects your:
• Spleen
• Brain
• Nerves
• Heart
• Tear glands
• Salivary glands
• Bones and joints.
Rarely, sarcoidosis affects other organs, including your:
• Thyroid gland
• Breasts
• Kidneys
• Reproductive organs.
Sarcoidosis almost always occurs in more than one organ at a time.
Sarcoidosis has an active and a nonactive phase:
• In the active phase, the granulomas form and grow. In this phase, symptoms can develop, and scar tissue can form in the organs where the granulomas occur.
• In the nonactive phase, the inflammation goes down, and the granulomas stay the same size or shrink. But the scars may remain and cause symptoms.
The course of the disease varies greatly among people.
• In many people, sarcoidosis is mild. The inflammation that causes the granulomas may get better on its own. The granulomas may stop growing or shrink. Symptoms may go away within a few years.
• In some people, the inflammation remains but doesn't get worse. You may also have symptoms or flare-ups and need treatment every now and then.
• In other people, sarcoidosis slowly gets worse over the years and can cause permanent organ damage. Although treatment can help, sarcoidosis may leave scar tissue in the lungs, skin, eyes, or other organs. The scar tissue can affect how the organs work. Treatment usually does not affect scar tissue.
Changes in sarcoidosis usually occur slowly (e.g., over months). Sarcoidosis does not usually cause sudden illness. However, some symptoms may occur suddenly. They include:
• Disturbed heart rhythms
• Arthritis in the ankles
• Eye symptoms.
In some serious cases in which vital organs are affected, sarcoidosis can result in death.
Sarcoidosis is not a form of cancer.
There is no known way to prevent sarcoidosis.
Sarcoidosis was once thought to be a rare condition. It's now known to affect tens of thousands of people throughout the United States. Because many people who have sarcoidosis have no symptoms, it's hard to know how many people have the condition.
Sarcoidosis was identified in the late 1860s. Since then, scientists have developed better tests to diagnose it and made advances in treating it.
What Causes Sarcoidosis?
The cause of sarcoidosis is not known. And, there may be more than one thing that causes it.
Scientists think that sarcoidosis develops when your immune system responds to something in the environment (e.g., bacteria, viruses, dust, chemicals) or perhaps to your own body tissue (autoimmunity).
Normally, your immune system defends your body against things that it sees as foreign and harmful. It does this by sending special cells to the organs that are being affected by these things. These cells release chemicals that produce inflammation around the foreign substance or substances to isolate and destroy them.
In sarcoidosis, this inflammation remains and leads to the development of granulomas or lumps.
Scientists have not yet identified the specific substance or substances that trigger the immune system response in the first place. They also think that sarcoidosis develops only if you have inherited a certain combination of genes.
You can't catch sarcoidosis from someone who has it.
More research is needed to discover what causes sarcoidosis. Here are some general symptoms of autoimmune diseases that are thought to be connected to Sarcoidosis.
Symptoms of Autoimmune Diseases
Spouses and family members, even though someone may look perfectly healthy, if they have an autoimmune disease, they are truly ill. It is not in their head.
The following symptoms are common in many, if not all, autoimmune diseases.
Fatigue: It’s not a good fatigue, from working hard, but an anxious, uncomfortable fatigue related to lack of sleep. Or a disruption of the energy production mechanism in cells, either from lack of oxygen, increased toxicity, infections or a malfunction of the mitochondria.
Sleep Disturbance: About 80% may wake up three or four times a night, or in some cases you don’t wake up, but in the morning you still feel like a truck ran over you. The reason for this is that subliminal seizures kick you out of stage 4, Delta sleep, to stage 1 sleep so you can’t sleep deeply and wake up not rested.
Short Term Memory Loss: Because of the low thyroid and heart complications typical in autoimmune diseases, there is a decrease in blood flow to the left lobe of the brain causing an oxygen deficiency in the brain. This can lead to the memory loss and forgetfulness that is common in autoimmune diseases.
Emotional Liability: Someone may cry more easily, be more anxious and fearful. This is caused by the illness, and is not a psychological reaction!
Depression: As with the emotional symptoms, the hypothalamus is involved. This is not clinical depression, but literally has a physical cause that is sometimes experienced as a deep depression right in the heart.
Low Thyroid Function. About 85% have this symptom, but only about 10% of the time does it show up on a typical thyroid test. If you get tested, have both a T3 and T4 done. About 10% have excessive hair loss. For most everyone, a poorly performing thyroid will show up as subnormal temperatures.
Gastrointestinal Problems: About 75% have this symptom. Can be anything from gas, bloating, cramps, diarrhea or constipation to hiatal hernia, irritable bowel syndrome or Crohn’s Disease. Sometimes taking a simple homeopathic remedy like arsenicum album, 6x or 6c and make a difference with this.
Swollen Glands, Chemical Sensitivity, and Headaches: Allergies often develop, usually after 3 to 5 years. Eyes can be light sensitive for 6 months or longer. Dry eyes can develop. About 20% experience a very uncomfortable disequilibrium of vertigo, almost an out of body feeling that can be most disconcerting.
Pain and Fibromyalgia: Often diagnosed as a separate illness, fibromyalgia is basically a symptom that can occur with any autoimmune disease. If you have it, you’ve got pain. Often in the neck and in shoulder muscles extending down the back. Can be in the joints and muscles also.
Low Blood Sugar.
Candida Yeast Infections: These are very common. Check your tongue. If it has a white coating, you have it. Or take the spit test you will read about later. Women may get girl thingyl yeast infections caused by Candida overgrowth. A Candida infection on its own can cause a number of autoimmune type symptoms. Sinus infections often are caused by Candida.
Tingling hands. Ringing ears. Cold toes. Cold fingers. Metallic taste in mouth. Caused by poor circulation and who knows what.
Overdoing: You over-exercise or overwork when you feel good, and then feel worse for days afterward. This can cause serious problems. In healthy people the body shuts down when the anaerobic threshold is reached as a lot of pain is experienced. This warning does not occur if you have an autoimmune disease. Instead, the body continues to exercise and experiences no pain as the lactic acid builds up, and the body ends up recirculating carbon dioxide. This is not a healthy thing to have happen to you. It is important not to push too hard when you start recovering, or this will set you back and wipe you out.
